Gates has recently stepped up her public profile, spearheading the foundation's campaigns to fight global diseases, develop agriculture and improve education. Now that her husband is also devoting his full attention to these efforts, he's had to stay in stride—Melinda's an avid long-distance runner. The world's premier philanthropy was not entirely immune to the times: The foundation's assets slipped below $30 billion this year, and it was recently criticized by medical journal The Lancet for lack of transparency. Melinda and her husband were awarded honorary law degrees by Cambridge in June. —Amina Khan

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